Closure



Jan. 8, 1935.

A. S. KARPER cLosUREv Filed Aug. 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet4 l Humm "lllllll'"JI 37 INVENTORL w 9 ABRAHAM SINGER KARPER,

BY v 2 2 a! r l ee, t* A ATTORNEYS.

fnll

Jan. s, 1935. A; s, KARPER 1,987,299

` cLosURE y Filed Aug. 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ABRAHAM /NGE@ KAQPE@ M, @www ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 8, 1935 STATES:

IimTilt.Njr OFFICE CLosUitE abraham 'SiiigerYKarper,New York, N. Y. Appiieaiien Augiists, 1931-, serial No. 555,176

` 5 claims. (citar-317) invention rel-'aies to a structurally and functionallyrimproved closure capable bf u'se' in different' as'sociatinsfbut' primarily 'in- 'employment onhectibnwithieceptteres, and especially wastereeeptaeles.'

It@ an object of the invention to'provide aide- V-i'c this character underlnoimal 'con'- dtins@ Wilisdbstantialiy seal a receptacle in'sueh manner 'that entrance to and: escape frontithe receptacle` by ether than `a" deliberate? actua',- tion: 'of 'the 'parte will be' virtually precluded' and iriwmciirmoreoyer; when. itis desired to obtain tleffe'eljtal'e `this may 'be accomplished w21-'m minimum fenortp further* eliject' of-th'e inventioi'i-` is thatV of providigf fcldsui-e particularly' ihten'de'd for 'as-v sbcition. withia waste' receiving receptacle-fand miiwhich the closure will-.open in 'virtuallyan emmene-manner and .willi thereupon automatically' return to rec'eptacl'ei-sealng position;

stili 'obj'e'ct of the invention is that of fai clb'sure iny which the pari'smais*r readily beiwdjsted seas to'comirfrensatrfdr weai mfc? to? properly correlate.' the'iparts sii that they. may 'cooperate to 'obtain the ifest possi-'ble Another *obibct is thiatl of' 'constructing arr ap#- paratml'ofz this eliiara'ctl'irI which'vai'ioiisclfasses 'of waste may" be eiieiehtly' segregated and in which, additionallyL-if desi1ied=the closure may iti-certain aspects" perform-f the` functionsV kof 'or include a; sighalli-'ngstructure.

Additional objects f the' invention are those 'ot .providing a structure' f this nature which embodyelatively'few parts, each 'individually' simple-and rugged construction', these parts being capabi of re'ady' 'assembly and application to either anl 'old orespecially'designed 'receptacle trl 'provide' an apparatus operating over long .periods of. 'time' withfreedom yfrcinf 'dinicu'lty Witlic thse and otherl objectsxirr mind, refer-'- ence is had; to the attached sheets of drawings iliustrting practical' embodimentsl of theV inventibn" andrwhich,

Fig.. 1i-isr a'sectional side view closure andireceptacle;

2i and' 3 aref similar viewsof diierent -forms thereof ,f

Fig.l 4fv shows a stilldiierent arrangementef theA invention;

Fig.` 5 is a-'sefctional side view of another form of closure and receptaele; -and Fig. 6' is an endV View of such latter arrangeof 'one` form of Vimams of thefparts and. showing certain of- :the

same-in elevation=.-

In 'these seveal views the' numeral 10` indicates a receptacle" of any vdesired material and 'com figuration 'and upon which a c'ap'member is disL posed; Obviously, as will hereinafter appearitol those: skilled the art, certain parts of the hereinaftei' vdescribed' construction might befformed' integrally or fixed with respect t'o the receptacle body;` However, forxco'nvenience in manufacturas well as with a view to economy and'ready separationr of theH partsA when necessary, it is preferred that the cap and its associated struc-A ture be formed- "eas vsh'owrr'to be `'wholly removable=from the receptacle body.V Thus the cap member preferably includes a baseA in the, rform-'of a ring 11 or any other conflguration suitable for cooperationV with the receptacle edge and which ring is to overlfie and eX-' tend-adjacent to the upper edgev ofthe lreceptacle. To retain the' same in posi-tion', aanged element 12 -is secured in spaced relationship to the ringY and such spacing defines a' recessl` suitalzale'iorf` the" reception lof the upper receptacle edge. Asshown; the'flanged member i12-may support afcrossbar 13 andl this crossbar conveniently mounts apost la. With a view to providing. a proper seal-and guiding-lip', the member 1:1 Ymay be extended-inwardly and upwardly as at 15 and then linwardly and downwardly-.as at 161, and ter; vnxifnate in a flanged portion 17.

. Disposed'above the ring member 11` is a closure element iny the `fermofav truncated cone` 18. Obviously, however, inl-ieu of .this specicfconnga-ration any properly shaped element may be femployedry Now,with a-view-to-'maintainingv the closure 18 proper relationship with respect to the .re-

lnainder of the eaplstructure, it is preferred, .ac

eording to the-present invention, to employY a spring 19 which as shown,l may havev its lower end closely encircle the post 14- and, as illustrated in i Figslrhaveits body beyond such .postenlarged '3sat-20.' YThe upper end of the spring-again rieferrri'rzsgA to .Fig.- l-is again. relatively constrieted and encircles a vpest or rod. -21 to have clam-ping contact therewith. Attachment .ofthe closure 18 to this rodv follows preferably by. set screws 22', or any other suitable structure, by means of which-the closure may be .adjusted alongr a vertical axis.

f Thus a closure is furnished in which a person "by simply bearing against the element 18 may rock the same in any. desired direction and. upon securing adequate clearancebetween the edge of the element 18` and the ring memberll, dispose `of the waste withinthe receptacle 10. Obviously this receptacle may accommodate an inner receptacle which is readily removable through a side door in the body (not shown) so that ready disposal of the waste contents is practicable. If it is desired to produce a complete unit which may be readily moved about with a minimum of noise, the body 10 may be provided at the bottom with rubber tire rollers, as indicated at 50 in Fig. 1. Upon the element 18 being released, it will, under the influence of the spring 20, return to its normal position whether in such displacement it has been simply rocked or forced sidewise. Adjustments for variation in flexion,4

strength of the spring -or its equivalent-may be made by means of the set screws 22 or their equivalent, and if desired, to prevent to a maxi- A mum extent the escape of odors from the receptacle or ready access into the'interior of the same, a packing strip 23 may be secured to the flange 17 and have sliding contact with the inturned edge portion 24 of the closure. rUnder usual circumstances, however, it is preferred, as villustrated in Fig. 3 et seq. that the packing strip-'- which maybe of rubber or any other materialbe secured to the fiange 25 ofthe closure cap and have wiping engagement .with the inwardly and downwardly extending portion 16 4of the ring member. If such a structure is employed it will be seen that any difficulties in yconnection with Waste matter catching against the packing' strip willbe avoided. y .1 'z 1 As shown in Fig. 2, under certain circumstances it may be desirable to produce a closure unit in which adjustment of the clearance of the element 18 may be accomplished by either employing the set 'screws 22 or by adjusting the nuts` 51 which hold the post 14`in place. It is, of course, apparent that both post 21 and post 14 might be formed of hollow tubing so that a direct entrance into the interior of the can would result and small objects could be disposedfthrough the post21 and would travel downwardly through the inner area of the spring y20'andv the hollow portion of the post 14, and thus reachthe interior ofthe can. In some instancesit has been found desirable to provide a closure of this type which' may be opened andwaste matter disposed by the use of one hand only. One way of accomplishing this, as shown by Fig. 2,'is to provide a rail member 52 which is spaced from and encircles-the element 18 `and is secured thereto by braces 53. By this expedient a person wishing to deposit waste within the can would simply bear against the rail member with the hand in which he vheld the waste material, and afterveifecting an opening of the closure would release his grasp on the waste'material and allow the same to fall into the 4,body of the ca n through this space between the rail member and the element 18.

In the form o f construction shown in Fig. 3, the closure embraces cap elements 26 and 27 which are proportioned and arranged to provide a unitary structure. In this instance the post 14 is in the form of a tube 28 which supports the spring 29 but below which a receptacle30 is removably positioned. Also, in this form'r of the invention the spring 29 defines a tube portion` the upper end of which underlies and is secured to a `funnel member 31 which may form an yintegralpart or-as shown-be fixedly secured to cap element 27. l In this case the member 31 will also provide a cross-bar or its equivalent 32 which will mount a secondary post 33, in turn supporting a spring 34. corresponding functionally and structurally to the springs 19 and 20. Similarly ,into the tube defined by the spring 29 and thus through the tube 28 into the receptacle 30. On the'other hand, larger articles may be disposed ofV by simply shifting the element 27 to a point at which they may enter the body of the receptacle 10. Similarly to the structure shown in Fig. l, they may then fall into a separate waste receptacle (not shown) so that they may be readily .removable as a unitfrom thebody of.; athe container 10. v ,f yIt is apparent that thestructureshown- 3 might be duplicated indefinitely to provideggany desired number of closures withwhich separate orsingle waste receiving receptacles might-,be connected..Vy However, for thepurpose 0f.. .avoiding undue illustration, no showing of a vplurality ,of more than twosuperposedclosure elementsfhas been;attempted intheannexeddrawings'.-

Under similar or other circumstances itly might also be desiredto have.` the closure functionwith or withoutithe receptacleportion as a signalling medium. This has been shown ,in Fig. 4in which the post indicated at 35 invFigr 3r has been continued as at 36` andmounts at itswupprftendvaA signalling device 37.5of any desiredconguration. With: such a construction an ...apparatus isxfurf nished which, whether used in connection .'with, or divorced from` a ,.receptacle; will"` serve the functions of a "silent policemanmwhich will-z have the additional advantage that if nstruck bya pass? ing vehicle it will give under the force'of a' blow and thereupon forthwithv return/tof its normal position. Of course, under these;.circumsta.nces it might be desiredif a receptacle is employed;- to sink the klatter into the supporting surface. to a point indicated in the figure in question; In certain instances it may be desired to effect an opening ofthe. closureother thanby directly engaging. the same with the hands or withtthe matter to be disposed Aof. 'Unde'r these circumstances, and as shown in'Figs. 5 and. 6, a treadle ring 38 may be pivotally attached to thereceptacle and serve to actuate a lever 39l within the same. This leverv will convenientlyactuate.frods'40 secured to a crossbar 41. The latter is attachedto a vertically extendingarm 42' forming. av part Yof a pivot bar43 supported by the receptacle. The upper end of the arm 42 is attached, for example, by a pivot 44 to' the flanged member 46 of the funnel member 31. Rods 45. connect to a member'46 and the crossbar41; "Consequently when thel ring 38 is rocked the rods 40 transmit this effect to the bar 41 which in turn `exerts a rocking-andshifting force on to the funnel member which iswflxed with'respect to the closureelement-12'7.' .Therefore, the latter, together with its associate structure, will rock with respect to the receptacle l10. An access may thus be had betweenthe ring member and the closure element ywithoutbeing necessary to deliberately engage thelatter.

It is, of course, apparent that thetreadle! 38 vmight directly couple with the closureelement 27 by means of rods or otherwise-,"but wherefsuch an expedient is resorted to, it becomes difficult to dispose a container of adequate size within the receptacle without interference with the rods or associated structures.

In addition to its primary function the post 14 serves to restrict the area of ilexibility of the spring 20, which spring may be secured directly to the cross member 13 or its functional equivalent. By lengthening or shortening the post, it is possible to produce a closure which will swing through a greater or shorter arc when the same is opened, and additionally the ruggedness of the device is increased by increasing the length of this element.

From the foregoing it will be understood that among others, the severa-l objects of the invention as specifically aforenoted are achieved. It is apparent that numerous changes in construction and rearrangements of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A closure including a base, a spring extending therefrom, a cap elementa funnel member mounting said element and secured to said spring, a second spring secured to said member and a second cap element mounted by said latter spring.

2. A closure including a plurality of juxtaposed cap elements, a positioning ring associated therewith, a hollow resilient member securing the lower of said elements to said ring and serving as a tube, and means for movably mounting the second of said cap elements above said hollow resilient member to normally seal the upper end thereof.

3. A container including, in combination, a body portion, a plurality of juxtaposed cap elements for normally sealing the upper end thereof, a hollow resilient member for securing the lower of said cap elements in position over said container body, a secondary receptacle disposed within said container body and secured to the lower end of said hollow resilient member, and means for movably mounting the second of said cap elements above said hollow resilient element and in position to normally seal the upper end of the latter.

4. A closure including a base, a plurality of juxtaposed cap elements, means extending from said base and acting to support said elements whereby the lower element is rendered movable with respect to said base and said other element, and additional means movably supporting the second of said elements whereby it is rendered movable with respect to said base and with respect to the lower of said cap elements.

5. A container of the character described cornprising a body portion, a plurality of cap members normally sealing the same, resilient means for positioning the lowermost of said cap elements in movable sealing contact with the top of said container body, said resilient means comprising a hollow tubular member, means for se-r curing an additional cap element above said rst named cap element and in contact with the `upper end of said tubular element, and further means for varying the intimacy of contact of said uppermost cap element with respect to the upper end of said tubular member.

ABRAHAM SINGER KARPER. 

